Women accused of selling pills

OKEECHOBEE — A former deputy and her daughter have been arrested for allegedly selling prescription pills to a confidential source during a local undercover drug operation.

Detectives with the Okeechobee Narcotics Task Force arrested the two women, along with a third woman, on Tuesday, Dec. 29. All three are facing felony drug charges.

Donna Hopewell Lee

Donna Hopewell Lee, 55, N.W. Fifth St., Okeechobee, is charged with the sale of a controlled substance (oxycodone) (two counts), sale of a controlled substance (dilaudid), possession of a controlled substance (oxycodone) with intent to sell (two counts) and possession of a controlled substance (dilaudid) with intent to sell. She is also charged with one misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana under 20 grams.

She is being held in the Okeechobee County Jail on bond of $300,500.

Records at the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) show Lee was a road patrol deputy there from March 24, 1999, until June 29, 2008, when she quit.

Dawna Lashay Hopewell

Her daughter, Dawna Lashay Hopewell, is being held on a bond of $200,000.

Hopewell, 33, N.W. Fifth St., Okeechobee, is charged with the felonies of sale of a controlled substance (oxycodone), sale of a controlled substance (dilaudid), possession of a controlled substance (oxycodone) with intent to sell and possession of a controlled substance (dilaudid) with intent to sell.

A third woman, Kathy Williams Carr, was also arrested by task force detectives. She is charged with the sale of a controlled substance (dilaudid), possession of a controlled substance (dilaudid) with intent to sell, sale of a controlled substance (oxycodone) and possession of a controlled substance (oxycodone) with intent to sell.

Kathy Carr

Carr, 62, N.W. Sixth St., Okeechobee, is being held in the county jail on a bond of $200,000.

Arrest reports by task force detectives indicate the three women sold multiple quantities of pills on numerous occasions.

According to a detective with the task force oxycodone pills are being sold for $20 to $30 each on the street, while dilaudid pills are being sold for $30 to $40 each.

The scenario was much the same for all three women as they reportedly met with the confidential sources for the purpose of selling prescription pills.

It was also pointed out in the report that upon occasion the mother and daughter would be together when the alleged sales were made.

Lee’s arraignment has been set for Jan. 19, 2016, at 9 a.m. Arraignment proceedings for Dawna and Carr have been slated for Feb. 4, 2016, at 10 a.m.

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